Ceramic: McElmo Black-on-white, bird effigy vessel, AZRU1-897

Summary

McElmo Black-on-white, bird effigy vessel (seed jar shaped), Accession AZRU-00001 Catalog #897. Morris FS 5417. Analyzed by Lori Reed 2011. Temper not examined; not visible on surface. Vessel is 100% complete with about 40% reconstruction with unknown plaster material (all of base). Measurements: 5.4 cm orifice diameter, 5.5 cm height to rim, 7 cm height to head. Image AZRU1-897 A: side view showing shape of vessel and painted design. Image AZRU1-897 B: side view showing shape of vessel and painted design. Image AZRU1-897 C: front view showing head of bird. Image AZRU1-897 D: top view showing orifice and painted design. Image AZRU1-897 E: top view showing orifice. Image AZRU1-897 F: top view showing orifice. Recovered from Earl Morris excavation of Room 181, upper floor, Aztec West Ruin. Earl Morris’ description of Room 181 at the time of excavation is as follows. “….considerable deposit of refuse…[continuing] well above the level of the third story…[Of the items found in the refuse deposits in the room] only two of the specimens are of special interest. One is a bird effigy of which the head was not found, the only one of its kind the writer has observed among later wares. The other, is the top of another bird effigy with head, wings, and tail in relief, and a T-shaped hole in the back…In the debris above the refuse was charcoal from a burned ceiling, presumably the third.” (Morris 1928:373) Reference: Earl Morris, 1928, Notes on Excavations in the Aztec Ruin, Volume XXVI, Part V, Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, New York.

Keywords

Temporal Coverage

Calendar Date: 1110 to 1140 (Late Chacoan)

Calendar Date: 1140 to 1280 (Post-Chacoan)

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Gary Brown

Contributor(s): Anne Grulich; Aztec Ruins National Monument, Aztec, NM

Principal Investigator(s): Lori Reed

Repository(s): Aztec Ruins National Monument, Aztec, NM; American Museum of Natural History, New York City, NY

Notes

Rights & Attribution: High resolution images of the item are archived and available to researchers through the National Park Service, Aztec Ruins National Monument.

Rights & Attribution: Artifact was collected from Aztec West Ruin excavations by Earl Morris between 1916 and 1922. Morris' excavations were sponsored and funded by the American Museum of Natural History, New York.

Rights & Attribution: Publication or use of the image is restricted; permission may be obtained through consultation with American Museum of Natural History and Aztec Ruins National Monument.

Source Collections

Original Items: American Museum of Natural History, New York, and NPS, Aztec Ruins National Monument, Aztec, New Mexico

Image: NPS, Aztec Ruins National Monument, Aztec, New Mexico

Related Comparative Collections

Aztec Ruins Collections housed at Hibben Center, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque

Aztec Ruins Collections housed at American Museum of Natural History, New York

Aztec Ruins Collections housed at Aztec Ruins National Monument, Aztec, New Mexico

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